Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 peppercorns
• 30g/1oz butter
• 30g/1oz plain flour
• 140ml/5fl oz white wine
• 1 free-range egg yolk
• 2-3 tbsp double cream
• squeeze lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• small handful fresh parsley
• chopped

Directions

• Place the chicken breasts in a pan with the vegetables and peppercorns and cover with water.
• Bring gradually to the boil and simmer until the chicken is cooked all the way through - about 30 minutes.
• Carefully remove the chicken breasts from the cooking liquid and keep them warm.
• Strain the cooking liquid into a clean pan
• discarding the cooked vegetables. Reserve about 450ml/16fl oz of the liquid.
• Melt the butter in a separate pan and add the flour. Cook until the mixture forms a smooth paste which leaves the sides and base of pan cleanly.
• Gradually add the reserved cooking liquid to the mixture
• a ladle at a time
• allowing to boil after each addition before beating well. Stir until the mixture blends smoothly.
• Pour the white wine into the sauce and reduce the heat to low.
• In a small bowl
• combine the egg yolk with the double cream. Stir the egg and cream into the sauce.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• Cut the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir into the sauce.
• Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve at once.